By the time June rolls around each year, Phil Steele and his team have been hard at work for months and months putting together his annual, industry-leading college football preview magazine.

The 2014 edition isn't quite ready – it'll hit news stands June 24 according to Steele's website – but in the coming weeks, Steele will slowly leak out sneak peeks of his preseason awards and predictions for the new season.

Junior Trey Dudley-Giles tops Steele's UMass selections as the first-team punt returner, while also coming in as the MAC's third-team kick returner. Junior wide receiver Tajae Sharpe was named to the third team with junior cornerback Randall Jette and senior linebacker Stanley Andre earning fourth-team nods.

Sharpe tied for eighth in the MAC last season with 61 receptions that went for 680 yards and four touchdowns. With a new pro-style offensive system and more consistent quarterback play, the 6-foot-2, 185 wideout should improve on those numbers and push for greater conference recognition.

Jette made a strong case for making the All-MAC team last year, while Andre finished tied for fifth in the conference with 111 tackles.

Steele stopped by MassLive last summer to share some of this thoughts about the state of UMass football. Surprise, surprise, not all of them were good. Just three Minutemen cracked his preseason all-conference ranks in both 2013 and 2012.

But while it's still mostly baby steps for the program, it's clear UMass does have some interesting talent to build around in the next couple of seasons.